Kingcome Inlet is one of the lesser principal

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Förden and East Jutland Fjorde, Germany, ...

s of the British Columbia Coast, north and east of Broughton Island. It is sixth in sequence of the major saltwater fjords north from the 49th parallel near

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and similar in width, on average , to longer inlets such as

Knight Inlet Knight Inlet (Kwakʼwala: ''Tsawatti'') is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast, and the largest of the major inlets in the southern part of the Coast. It is fifth in sequence of the great saltwater inlets north from the 49t ...

and

Bute Inlet , image = Bute Inlet.jpg , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Strathcona RD, British Co ...

, but it is only in length from the mouth of the Kingcome River to Sutlej Channel, which ultimately connects around Broughton Island to the main regional waterway of the

Queen Charlotte Strait , image = Canadian pilot, near Port Hardy BC.jpg , alt = , caption = A pilot boat plies Queen Charlotte Strait near Port Hardy , image_bathymetry = Locmap-QCS-Hecate-Dixon.png , alt_bathymetry = ...

. Kingcome Inlet has a short side inlet, Wakeman Sound, fed by the Wakeman River. The area is the territory of the

Kwakwakaʼwakw The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw (), also known as the Kwakiutl (; "Kwakʼwala-speaking peoples") are one of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their current population, according to a 2016 census, is 3,665. Most live in their traditi ...

peoples. At the mouth of Kingcome Inlet is the

Broughton Archipelago Broughton Archipelago is a group of islands located at the eastern end of Queen Charlotte Strait in Mount Waddington Regional District, British Columbia. The archipelago is the traditional territory of the Musgamagw Dzawada'enuxw, Namgis, Ma'am ...

, a wild array of small islands that form a marine park west of

Gilford Island Gilford Island is an island in British Columbia, Canada, located between Tribune Channel and Knight Inlet. The island has an area of . Turnour Island is to the south across Tribune Channel, the entrance to Thompson Sound to the east. Port Eliz ...

, the largest of the hundreds of islands. It is home to the Ḵwiḵwa̱sut'inux̱w Ha̱xwa'mis First Nation. The village and former cannery site of Kingcome, further up the river, is the territory of the Dzawada̱ʼenux̱w First Nation.

Name origin

Kingcome Inlet was named for Captain

John Kingcome Admiral Sir John Kingcome, KCB (14 February 1793 – 7 August 1871) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station. Naval career Kingcome joined the Royal Navy in 1808 and was present at the destruction of the F ...

of the troopship HMS ''Simoom'', later knighted, who was Rear Admiral in charge of the

Pacific Station The Pacific Station was created in 1837 as one of the geographical military formations into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. The South America Station was split into the Pacific Station and the South East Coast of ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

from 1863 to 1864 and whose flagship was HMS ''Sutlej''.

References

* Fjords of British Columbia Central Coast of British Columbia Inlets of British Columbia {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub

Name origin

See also

References